


Darkness Falls

by 30xf



Series: 201 Days Of X Files [20]
Category: The X-Files
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-15
Updated: 2015-09-15
Packaged: 2018-04-20 23:03:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4805525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/30xf/pseuds/30xf





	Darkness Falls

They are on their seventh game of gin rummy when Scully suddenly lays down all of her cards on the wheeled hospital table that sits over her bed. 

"You didn't knock," Mulder muses, rearranging the cards in his hand.

When she doesn't respond, he looks up at her. She is cross-legged on the bed, with the blanket up to her waist, a necessity since she's wearing a hospital gown. The look on her face is one of resigned frustration. "I don't want to knock. I don't want to play this fucking game anymore. I want to go home."

She covers her face with her hands and sighs. Mulder collects their cards and stacks them neatly beside the tray that contains her half-eaten lunch. "I'm sorry," he says quietly.

Her hands drop to her lap. "For what?" she asks, with a little more irritability than she had intended. She's the one still hooked up to an IV, while he's been discharged from the hospital for a day and a half already, and he sounds so full of self pity.

Mulder gets up and paces over to the TV mounted in the corner of the room. It's been on for hours, though neither of them has paid any attention to it. He changes the channel a couple of times, but doesn't stop on anything in particular. He paces over to the window, which offers a stunning view of the rooftop duct work of the next level down. "It was my idea to come here. I said it'd be a nice trip to the forest."

Scully almost laughs, "And you honestly think I believed that?" If she weren't hooked up to the infernal bag of liquid that's been doubling her number of trips to the bathroom, she'd meet him at the window. They are far from shouting, but it feels like a betrayal of their usual hushed tones. The person in the other bed, the bed Mulder had occupied for only about half a day after they were transferred to a civilian hospital, is asleep and the room is small. Their conversations have never been for public consumption, despite the often impersonal nature of them. 

He turns to her, leaning on the window sill and crossing his arms over his chest. "Then why'd you come?"

Scully smiles patiently. It's the same smile she used to give her grandmother when she'd get confused and refer to her as Melissa. "Mulder," she sighs, "I know you're all about blaming yourself for everything and taking on the weight of the world," he looks down and shifts his weight uncomfortably. "But I'm an FBI agent and a grown woman. If you ever again ask me why I came with you on what, for all intents and purposes, looked to be a routine case, I might take out my gun and shoot you."

He considers her for a long moment before a wide grin emerges on his face. "I'll keep that in mind."

She nods once, signifying the subject is closed. "Now please sir, if you would be so kind as to hand me my IV pole," she begins in a posh British accent, "the lady needs to pee."

"At your service," he ascents as he crosses the room. 

She giggles a little at his terrible impression of a British accent and holds the back of her gown together as she stands. She has just gotten herself and her IV pole tucked into the bathroom and closed the door, when the nurse appears and asks Mulder to deliver the news to Scully that she's free to go.

"Finally," comes muffled from the other side of the bathroom door.

Mulder chuckles, "I think she got the message."


End file.
